In thinking about life goals one of the obvious questions that comes to mind is when I want to retire. I've been struggling with that thought as of late because, as far as I can tell, retirement isn't very scriptural.
The one passage that I have come back to time and again over the last few years is Luke 12:13-21. In this passage a man asks Jesus to mediate an inheritance dispute he has with his brother. Jesus' response is to question why he should be an arbitrator in this dispute, then to warn against greed and an abundance of possessions. He follows it up with what seems like a damning parable.
In the parable a rich man has a bumper crop, and his response is to build grain storage. He figures he can now live off this grain, kick back, and not worry about life any more. The NIV records him as saying, "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Jesus calls the man a fool and spells out the condemnation the man is to experience.
A typical westerner will read this passage with an almost automatic, "Of course Jesus isn't warning against savings! He's simply preaching against greed, laziness, and lack of care for others in a general sense. Sure, saving excessively is greed, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't save for retirement." Without fail, if I bring this issue up to others in a church or Bible study setting with a question about retirement, someone jumps to retirement's defense without really addressing the fact that Jesus told a parable where the villain's villainy was simply that they saved when they should have given away.
I'm not actually trying to make a point here. I honestly don't know what to do with this. I have a retirement account. I don't contribute at the level that Fidelity says you should, but it exists for the purpose of providing an income when Golden and I are older. Is this wrong?
I think the question of what to do with this passage invites knee-jerk responses, but it really deserves heartfelt contemplation, even if a person decides that retirement accounts are good and acceptable. As I noted, I have a retirement account and I still contribute to it. Part of the why is that I'm not convinced yet that it's inherently wrong.
One potentially valid argument that I have heard is that the cultural rules for caring for one's elders has changed. Retirement accounts weren't a thing because elders in the same family unit worked together in whatever the family trade was and all raised the children together. Retirement accounts are a natural result of a structural shift in our culture where family units are smaller, and don't include grandparents. Whether that is good or bad can be debated, but it is possible that this cultural element to this that changes the application of this passage.
One thing I am certain Jesus was decrying is a mindset that I do see within the church today, and that I am prone to. Jesus very clearly indicated that the person who believed they had earned the right to leisure and pleasure was to be condemned. So, perhaps the question isn't whether retirement from a specific career is wrong, but whether the attitude surrounding that retirement is wrong. If I have the perspective that I've earned or I deserve to spend the rest of my life devoted to "me time" because I've banked enough money to do that, I'm inviting condemnation.
It's a lot to think about when reviewing my 401(k).
Monday, September 24, 2018
Monday, September 17, 2018
christopher robin
A few weeks ago we saw Christopher Robin with Golden's family. I'm torn about it. It was a well-made movie, but it pushed a button that drives me nuts. I get the sense that I'm overly sensitive about it since I've never heard anyone else sound off about it, but it does bug me. I've sounded off about it before for other movies as well.
Christopher Robin is presented as someone who as an adult apparently cares too much about his career at the expense of his wife and daughter. He's presented with an ultimatum that he has to work through the weekend when he has a trip planned with his family or he's informed that a large number of people are going to lose their jobs. When he reports the situation to his wife and daughter individually they are each disappointed. While the emotions and motivations in the situation are well-handled for a children's movie, he is presented as going down the wrong path for choosing to work through the weekend, and the story really kicks off from there.
There is more to the story, but in the same situation where other peoples' livelihoods hung in the balance, I would be hard-pressed to justify taking time off, even to spend it with my family. In order to make the main character's choice difficult, I believe the movie overplayed its hand and presented a situation where the workaholic father and husband was actually justified in putting work ahead of other responsibilities.
With that being said, our kids loved the movie, and that is definitely not nothing. There are quite a few well-loved movies they don't connect with. This one had just the right laughs for them.
Christopher Robin is presented as someone who as an adult apparently cares too much about his career at the expense of his wife and daughter. He's presented with an ultimatum that he has to work through the weekend when he has a trip planned with his family or he's informed that a large number of people are going to lose their jobs. When he reports the situation to his wife and daughter individually they are each disappointed. While the emotions and motivations in the situation are well-handled for a children's movie, he is presented as going down the wrong path for choosing to work through the weekend, and the story really kicks off from there.
There is more to the story, but in the same situation where other peoples' livelihoods hung in the balance, I would be hard-pressed to justify taking time off, even to spend it with my family. In order to make the main character's choice difficult, I believe the movie overplayed its hand and presented a situation where the workaholic father and husband was actually justified in putting work ahead of other responsibilities.
With that being said, our kids loved the movie, and that is definitely not nothing. There are quite a few well-loved movies they don't connect with. This one had just the right laughs for them.
Sunday, September 09, 2018
completed bucket list
I recently wrote about goals, and of my lack of a bucket list. The real reason I would create such a list is to have goals to look forward to, and to create memories of rich experiences. It occurred to me that, while I haven't created such a list, I can look back at my life and see hundreds of experiences that would qualify as bucket list worthy.
As examples, I can imagine putting on my bucket list in my twenties that I'd like to swim in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. I hadn't had that opportunity yet even ten years ago, as I hadn't been in any ocean water in my life at that time, but now I have. I can imagine taking a tour through a cave being on my list, which I hadn't done yet seven years ago, but which I have done twice in that time. I can imagine experiencing kids camp with my kids being on such a list, and that is something that happened just this summer. I can imagine maintaining a target healthy weight on my bucket list as well, which is something I've only recently set about achieving.
Even if I don't ever create a bucket list with things that I want to do in the future, just consciously making choices to do things with family and to commit to self-improvement will guarantee bucket list-like experiences and achievements. Perhaps one of the best ways to be thankful is to look at the experiences in life that I've already had that could have filled a bucket list I may have had ten or fifteen years ago. I understand that not everyone has the same opportunities to have what appear on the outside to be rich experiences, but I suspect that most adults do have a large number of bucket list experiences and achievements of their own, even if their backgrounds or current situations are not as advantaged as others.
What are some of your bucket list experiences that you've already had or achievements you've already accomplished, even if you didn't put them on an actual list beforehand?
As examples, I can imagine putting on my bucket list in my twenties that I'd like to swim in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. I hadn't had that opportunity yet even ten years ago, as I hadn't been in any ocean water in my life at that time, but now I have. I can imagine taking a tour through a cave being on my list, which I hadn't done yet seven years ago, but which I have done twice in that time. I can imagine experiencing kids camp with my kids being on such a list, and that is something that happened just this summer. I can imagine maintaining a target healthy weight on my bucket list as well, which is something I've only recently set about achieving.
Even if I don't ever create a bucket list with things that I want to do in the future, just consciously making choices to do things with family and to commit to self-improvement will guarantee bucket list-like experiences and achievements. Perhaps one of the best ways to be thankful is to look at the experiences in life that I've already had that could have filled a bucket list I may have had ten or fifteen years ago. I understand that not everyone has the same opportunities to have what appear on the outside to be rich experiences, but I suspect that most adults do have a large number of bucket list experiences and achievements of their own, even if their backgrounds or current situations are not as advantaged as others.
What are some of your bucket list experiences that you've already had or achievements you've already accomplished, even if you didn't put them on an actual list beforehand?
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